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Two Decades of Referential Communication Research: A Review and Meta-Analysis

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Verbal Processes in Children

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Cognitive Development ((2116))

Abstract

This is a literature review of over 100 research studies in which referential communication tasks were used. The literature review represents what Glass (1976) has called “meta-analysis,” that is, an attempt to summarize findings across studies. Conclusions with respect to the relationship between referential communication performance and some commonly investigated factors such as age, sex, social class, cognitive ability, egocentrism, and training are summarized. In addition to summarizing findings from the studies, attention is also given to characterizing the field of research itself in terms of the experimental designs and procedures used and the characteristics of the people studied in order to identify strengths and weaknesses in the research base on which our understanding of referential communication performance rests. A brief discussion of the history and rationale for the referential communication paradigm is needed to place this review in its proper context.

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References

Appendix: References Included in Meta-Analysis

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, N6A 5C2, London, Ontario, Canada

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Dickson, W.P. (1982). Two Decades of Referential Communication Research: A Review and Meta-Analysis. In: Brainerd, C.J., Pressley, M. (eds) Verbal Processes in Children. Springer Series in Cognitive Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9475-4_1

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